English skills with readings 7th edition rxk4UVld4r06UpNw2fieKurzjJff3eVo pdf

Praise for English Skills with Readings, 7th Edition and English Skills, 9th Edition “I would describe English Skills with Readings as the ‘complete package.’ It is a text that will fost

Praise for English Skills with Readings , 7 th Edition and English Skills , 9 th

Praise for English Skills with Readings, 7th Edition and English Skills, 9th

Edition

“I would describe English Skills with Readings as the ‘complete package.’ It is a text that will foster better

student writing—one of the best texts for teaching English that I have seen in a long time!”

—Cedric Burden, Lawson State Community College

“ English Skills with Readings captures the perfect balance of technique and practice, example and exercise,

modeling and prompting The student can digest and integrate the focused, essential principles of writing for

clear, effective, and error-free written communication.”

—Spencer Belgarian, Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising

“An excellent book for students who need plenty of practice in the basics of writing.”

—Su Senapati, Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College

“The best developmental writing text around.”

—Mib Garrard, Grayson County College

“Changing to this textbook is the single factor which has renewed my desire to teach this course.”

—Anneliese Homan, State Fair Community College

“There can be no legitimate comparison between John Langan’s McGraw-Hill developmental composition text series and any other texts available Other texts are simply not as clear, precise, interesting, or comprehensive

as English Skills ”

—Candace C Mesa, Dixie College

“I love Langan’s tone and style—direct and not condescending.”

—Jeanne Grandchamp, Bristol Community College

“It is an outstanding text, good for discussion, individual work, or collaborative activities.”

—Patsy Krech, University of Memphis

iii

Readings Listed by Rhetorical Mode

Note: Some selections are listed more than once because they illustrate more than one rhetorical method of

development

EXEMPLIFICATION

All the Good Things Sister Helen Mrosla 628

Joe Davis: A Cool Man Beth Johnson 649

What Good Families Are Doing Right Delores Curran 662

Anxiety: Challenge by Another Name James Lincoln Collier 686

“Extra Large,” Please Diane Urbina 718

How They Get You toDo That Janny Scott 701

Dealing with Feelings Rudolph F Verderber 711

Rudeness at the Movies Bill Wine 740

The Most Hateful Words Amy Tan 726

The Storyteller H H Munro (“Saki”) 732

PROCESS

Anxiety: Challenge by Another Name James Lincoln Collier 686

Let’s Really Reform Our Schools Anita Garland 693

COMPARISON OR CONTRAST

Rowing the Bus Paul Logan 634

Joe Davis: A Cool Man Beth Johnson 649

The Fist, the Clay, and the Rock Donald Holland 657

“Extra Large,” Please Diane Urbina 718

The Most Hateful Words Amy Tan 726

DEFINITION

What Good Families Are Doing Right Delores Curran 662

Anxiety: Challenge by Another Name James Lincoln Collier 686

xii xiii

The Storyteller H H Munro (“Saki”) 732

The Fist, the Clay, and the Rock Donald Holland 657

DIVISION-CLASSIFICATION

Dealing with Feelings Rudolph F Verderber 711

The Fist, the Clay, and the Rock Donald Holland 657

DESCRIPTION

Rowing the Bus Paul Logan 634

Joe Davis: A Cool Man Beth Johnson 649

Rudeness at the Movies Bill Wine 740

From Father to Son, Last Words to Live by Dana Canedy 747

CAUSE AND EFFECT

The Scholarship Jacket Marta Salinas 642

Joe Davis: A Cool Man Beth Johnson 649

“Extra Large,” Please Diane Urbina 718

Do It Better! Ben Carson, M.D., with Cecil Murphey 676

Anxiety: Challenge by Another Name James Lincoln Collier 686

Let’s Really Reform Our Schools Anita Garland 693

How They Get You to Do That Janny Scott 701

Dealing with Feelings Rudolph F Verderber 711

The Most Hateful Words Amy Tan 726

Rudeness at the Movies Bill Wine 740

A Drunken Ride, a Tragic Aftermath Theresa Conroy and Christine M Johnson 753

NARRATION

All the Good Things Sister Helen Mrosla 628

Rowing the Bus Paul Logan 634

The Scholarship Jacket Marta Salinas 642

xiii xiv

From Father to Son, Last Words to Live by Dana Canedy 747

Do It Better! Ben Carson, M.D., with Cecil Murphey 676

The Most Hateful Words Amy Tan 726

The Storyteller H H Munro (“Saki”) 732

A Drunken Ride, a Tragic Aftermath Theresa Conroy and Christine M Johnson 753

ARGUMENT

The Scholarship Jacket Marta Salinas 642

Joe Davis: A Cool Man Beth Johnson 649

Anxiety: Challenge by Another Name James Lincoln Collier 686

Let’s Really Reform Our Schools Anita Garland 693

Rudeness at the Movies Bill Wine 740

“Extra Large,” Please Diane Urbina 718

To the Instructor

Key Features of the Book

English Skills with Readings will help students learn and apply the basic principles of effective composition

It will also help them master essential reading skills It is a nuts-and-bolts book based on a number of

assumptions or beliefs about the writing process:

• First of all, English Skills with Readings assumes that four principles in particular are keys to

effective writing: unity, support, coherence, and sentence skills These four principles are

highlighted on the inside back cover and reinforced throughout the book

Part One focuses on the first three principles and to some extent on sentence skills; Part Five serves as a concise handbook of sentence skills

The four principles are applied in different types of paragraph development (Part Two) and

in several-paragraph essays (Part Three)

Part Four discusses research skills

Part Six presents seventeen reading selections

The ongoing success of English Skills with Readings is evidence that the four principles are easily grasped,

remembered, and followed by students

• The book also reflects a belief that, in addition to these four principles, there are other important

factors in writing effectively The second chapter discusses prewriting, rewriting, and editing

Besides encouraging students to see writing as a process, the chapter asks students to examine their

attitude toward writing, to write on what they know about or can learn about, to consider keeping a

writing journal, and to make outlining a part of the writing process.

• English Skills with Readingsassumes that the best way to begin writing is with personal

experience After students have learned to support a point by providing material from their own

experience, they are ready to develop an idea by drawing on their own reasoning abilities and on

information in reports, articles, and books In Parts Two and Three, students are asked to write on both

experiential and objective topics.

• The book also assumes that beginning writers are more likely to learn composition skills through

lively, engaging, and realistic models than through materials remote from the common experiences that are part of everyday life For example, when a writer argues that proms should be banned, or

catalogs ways to harass an instructor, or talks about why some teenagers take drugs, students will be

more apt to remember and follow the writing principles that are involved

• A related assumption is that students are especially interested in and challenged by the writing of

their peers After reading vigorous papers composed by other students and understanding the power

xv xvi

detail in their own work.

• Another premise of English Skills with Readings is that mastery of the paragraph should precede

work on the several-paragraph essay Thus Part One illustrates the basic principles of composition

writing using paragraph models, and the assignments in Part Two aim at developing the ability to

support ideas within a variety of paragraph forms The essential principles of paragraph writing are

then applied to the several-paragraph essays in Part Three

• The grammar, punctuation, and usage skills that make up Part Five are explained clearly and

directly, without unnecessary technical terms Here, as elsewhere, abundant exercise material is

provided, especially for the mistakes that are most likely to interfere with clear communication

• A final assumption is that, since no two people will use an English text in exactly the same way, the material should be organized in a highly accessible manner Because each of the six parts of the

book deals with a distinct area of writing, instructors can turn quickly and easily to the skills they

want to present At the same time, ideas for sequencing material are provided in a section titled

“Using This Text” at the end of Chapter 1 And a detailed syllabus is provided in the Instructor’s

Manual

I am very grateful for the ongoing popularity of English Skills with Readings Instructors continue to say that

the four bases really do help students learn to write effectively And they continue to comment that students

find the activities, assignments, model passages, and reading selections especially interesting and

worthwhile

The Readings

• The seventeen selections in Part Six have been chosen for their content as much as for rhetorical

mode They are organized thematically into three groups: “Goals and Values,” “Education and

Self-Improvement,” and “Human Groups and Society.” Some selections reflect important

contemporary concerns: for instance, “Let’s Really Reform Our Schools,” “‘Extra Large,’ Please,”

and “What Good Families Are Doing Right.” Some provide information many students may find

helpful: examples are “Anxiety: Challenge by Another Name,” “How They Get You to Do That,” and

“Dealing with Feelings.” Some recount profoundly human experiences: “All the Good Things,”

“From Father to Son, Last Words to Live by,” “Joe Davis: A Cool Man,” and “A Drunken Ride, a

Tragic Aftermath.” (A list on pages xii–xiv presents the readings by rhetorical mode.)

• Each reading begins with a preview that supplies background information where needed and

stimulates interest in the piece

• The ten reading comprehension questions that follow each selection give students practice in five key

skills: understanding vocabulary in context, summarizing (by choosing an alternative title),

determining the main idea, recognizing key supporting details, and making inferences Reading

educators agree that these are among the most crucial comprehension skills A special chart in

Appendix A enables students to track their progress as they practice these skills

xvi xvii

• Discussion questions following the reading comprehension questions deal with matters of content as

well as aspects of structure, style, and tone Through the questions on structure in particular, students

will see that professional authors practice some of the same basic composing techniques (such as the

use of transitions and emphatic order to achieve coherence) that they have been asked to practice in

their own writing

• Finally, two paragraph writing assignments and one essay writing assignment follow the discussion

questions The assignments range from personal narratives to expository and persuasive essays about

issues in the world at large Many assignments provide guidelines on how to proceed, including

sample topic sentences or thesis statements and appropriate methods of development In addition, five

of the selections feature a fourth writing assignment requiring some simple online research

When assigning a selection, instructors may find it helpful to ask students to read the preview as well as to

answer the reading comprehension and discussion questions that follow the selection Answers can then be

gone over quickly in class Through these activities, a writing instructor can contribute to the improvement

of students’ reading skills

Changes in the Seventh Edition

Here is a list of what is new in the seventh edition of English Skills with Readings:

• Among several changes in this seventh edition is its new, more contemporary design The enhanced

four-color design adds visual appeal for students while highlighting key material for them and helping them make connections and find the information they need

• More than seventy images have been added throughout the text Because today’s students respond so

readily to visual images, and must learn to evaluate such images critically, this edition features more

than seventy new images, each chosen and used for a pedagogical purpose

Every part now opens with an image (or images) accompanied by a writing prompt that introduces students to the lessons that section of the text will cover

Every chapter in Parts One through Four opens with a compelling visual or visuals, all of which are accompanied by a writing prompt related to the particular chapter In addition, every section in Part Five features a visual opener with accompanying writing prompt

Part Six, “Readings for Writers,” now includes writing prompts for featured images, which are linked thematically to the readings

• Research coverage has been expanded The new edition returns to previous editions’ tradition of

extensive research coverage The former Chapter 19, “A Quick Guide to Research,” has been replaced with two new chapters: Chapter 19, “Using the Library and the Internet” and Chapter 20, “Writing a

Research Paper.”

• Key features have been added to make the book easier to use for instructors and students.

xvii xviii

Every part and chapter now opens with an outline of its contents, preparing students for the lessons to follow.

Practice exercises and activities are now numbered consecutively in each chapter, allowing students to quickly find the activities they need to complete

Tip, Hint, and Explanation Boxes throughout the text offer advice about grammar rules, hints for students on how to complete selected activities, and explanations of why the answers to sample activities are correct

Technology icons have been simplified to include just one easily recognizable icon directing students to the Online Learning Center, where they can find expanded coverage of a

particular topic or hone their skills through completing additional exercises

www mhhe com / langan

A new Collaborative Learning icon highlights all student activities that can be assigned as collaborative activities, either in or outside of class

Teaching Tips are available in the margins throughout the Annotated Instructor’s Edition.

ESL Tips, which offer specific advice for instructing multilingual writers, are also featured

in the margins of the Annotated Instructor’s Edition.

• New checklists reinforce the importance of the four bases during revision Every chapter in Part Two,

“Paragraph Development,” now features a specialized checklist of the four bases that students can use

when revising paragraphs written in the different patterns of development Each checklist is tailored to the particular pattern of writing the students are working on in that chapter

• The book features three new reading selections in Part Six, “Readings for Writers.” Chosen for their

appeal and relevance to today’s students, these new essays address the growing number of American

children who are dangerously overweight; an American soldier in Iraq who prepared his newborn son

for life without him; and one teacher’s lesson on becoming strong and resilient learners

• A new appendix, “A Writer’s Journal,” has been added to encourage students to keep a writing

journal and to give them room to start recording ideas

xviii xix

Learning Aids Accompanying the Book

Supplements for Instructors

www mhhe com / langan

• An Annotated Instructor’s Edition (ISBN 0-07-335014-1) consists of the student text complete with

answers to all activities and tests, followed by an Instructor’s Guide featuring teaching suggestions

and a model syllabus

• An Online Learning Center ( www mhhe com / langan) offers a host of instructional aids and

additional resources for instructors, including a comprehensive computerized test bank, the

downloadable Instructor’s Manual and Test Bank, online resources for writing instructors, and more.

• The McGraw-Hill Virtual Workbook offers interactive activities and exercises that reinforce the

skills students learn in Part Five of English Skills with Readings Authored by Donna Matsumoto,

Leeward Community College, and powered by Quia, each interactive, Web-based activity

corresponds to a key section or chapter in Part Five, giving students additional opportunities for

practice in grammar, punctuation, and mechanics This online workbook is supported by a powerful

array of Web-based instructor’s tools, including an automated online grade book

• The Classroom Performance System (CPS by eInstruction) is an easy-to-use, wireless response

system that allows instructors to conduct quizzes and polls in class and provide students with

immediate feedback McGraw-Hill provides a database of questions compatible with English Skills

and English Skills with Readings To download the database, go to the English Skills OLC at

www mhhe com / langan For further details on CPS, go to www mhhe com / einstruction.

• PageOut! helps instructors create graphically pleasing and professional Web pages for their courses,

in addition to providing classroom management, collaborative learning, and content management

tools PageOut! is FREE to adopters of McGraw-Hill textbooks and learning materials Learn more

at www mhhe com / pageout

• Partners in Teaching is an online community of composition and basic writing instructors Two

associated listservs, Teaching Composition and Teaching Basic Writing, address issues of pedagogy

in theory and in practice Their goal is to bring together senior members of the college composition

community with newer members—junior faculty and teaching assistants—as well as adjuncts Each

month, major figures in the fields of composition and basic writing take turns leading discussions on issues of importance to people in the profession

• We enthusiastically invite you to submit your own ideas for topics and potential contributions to

these listservs Please check out Teaching Composition at www mhhe com / tcomp and Teaching

xix xx

Supplements for Students

www mhhe com / langan

• An Online Learning Center ( www mhhe com / langan) offers a host of instructional aids and

additional resources for students, including self-correcting exercises, writing activities for additional practice, guides to doing research on the Internet and avoiding plagiarism, useful Web links, and

more The site is powered by Catalyst, McGraw-Hill’s innovative writing and research resource

• The McGraw-Hill Virtual Workbook offers interactive activities and exercises that reinforce the

skills students learn in Part Five of English Skills with Readings Authored by Donna Matsumoto,

Leeward Community College, and powered by Quia, each interactive, Web-based activity

corresponds to a key section or chapter in Part Five, giving students additional opportunities for

practice in grammar, punctuation, and mechanics

Dictionary and Vocabulary Resources

• Random House Webster’s College Dictionary (0-07-240011-0): This authoritative dictionary

includes over 160,000 entries and 175,000 definitions The most commonly used definitions are

always listed first, so students can find what they need quickly

• The Merriam-Webster’s Dictionary (0-07-310057-9), based on the best-selling Merriam-Webster’s

Collegiate Dictionary, contains over 70,000 definitions

• The Merriam-Webster’s Thesaurus (0-07-310067-6): This handy paperback thesaurus contains over

157,000 synonyms, antonyms, related and contrasted words, and idioms

• Merriam-Webster’s Vocabulary Builder (0-07-310069-2) introduces 3,000 words and includes

quizzes to test progress

• Merriam-Webster’s Notebook Dictionary (0-07-299091-0): An extremely concise reference to the

words that form the core of the English vocabulary, this popular dictionary, conveniently designed

for three-ring binders, provides words and information at students’ fingertips

• Merriam-Webster’s Notebook Thesaurus (0-07-310068-4) is designed for three-ring binders and

helps students search for words they might need today It provides concise, clear guidance for over

157,000 word choices

• Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary and Thesaurus, Electronic Edition (0-07-310070-6):

Available on CD-ROM, this online dictionary contains thousands of new words and meanings from

all areas of human endeavor, including electronic technology, the sciences, and popular culture

xx xxi

You can contact your local McGraw-Hill representative or consult McGraw-Hill’s Web site at

www mhhe com / english for more information on the supplements that accompany English Skills with

Readings, 7th Edition.

Acknowledgments

Reviewers who have contributed to the sixth and seventh editions through their helpful comments include

Spencer Belgarian, Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising

Vivian Brown-Carman, Bergen Community College

Cedric Burden, Lawson State Community College

Anne J Chamberlain, Community College of Baltimore County

Molly Emmons, College of the Redwoods – Del Norte

Rita Fork, El Camino College

Mib Garrard, Grayson County College

Jeanne Grandchamp, Bristol Community College

Anneliese Homan, State Fair Community College

Peggy F Hopper, Walters State Community College

Christy Hughes, Orangeburg-Calhoun Technical College

Patsy Krech, University of Memphis

Jennifer Leamy, Wake Technical Community College

Candace C Mesa, Dixie College

Robert Miller, Terra Community College

Su Senapati, Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College

Kathleen Shaw, Montgomery County Community College

Elizabeth W Smith, Manatee Community College

Pam Smith, Copper Mountain College

Judy Stockstill, Central Christian College

Loretta S Stribling, Whatcom Community College

Mary McCaslin Thompson, Anoka-Ramsey Community College

xxi xxii

Starlette Vaughn, Sacramento City College

I am also grateful for the talented support of my McGraw-Hill editors, John Kindler, Alyson Watts, and

Anne Stameshkin Editorial/marketing team members Jesse Hassenger and Tamara Wederbrand also made

valuable contributions to this text Many thanks to the skilled production and design team—Melissa

Williams, Melanie Field, Preston Thomas, Maureen McCutcheon, Emily Tietz, and Tandra Jorgensen Also, I’d like to thank Magdalena Corona and Alex Rohrs for producing the text’s media component

Joyce Stern, Assistant Professor at Nassau Community College, contributed the ESL Tips to the Annotated

Instructor’s Edition of English Skills with Readings Professor Stern is also Assistant to the Chair in the

Department of Reading and Basic Education An educator for over thirty years, she holds an advanced

degree in TESOL from Hunter College, as well as a New York State Teaching Certificate in TESOL She is

currently coordinating the design, implementation, and recruitment of learning communities for both ESL

and developmental students at Nassau Community College and has been recognized by the college’s Center

for Students with Disabilities for her dedication to student learning

Donna T Matsumoto, Assistant Professor of English and the Writing Discipline Coordinator at Leeward

Community College in Hawaii (Pearl City), wrote the Teaching Tips for the Annotated Instructor’s Edition

of English Skills with Readings Professor Matsumoto has taught writing, women’s studies, and American

studies for a number of years through the University of Hawaii system, at Hawaii Pacific University, and in

community schools for adults She received a 2005 WebCT Exemplary Course Project award for her online

writing course and is the author of McGraw-Hill’s The Virtual Workbook, an online workbook featuring

interactive activities and exercises

John Langan

About the Author

John Langan has taught reading and writing at Atlantic Cape Community College near Atlantic City, New

Jersey, for more than twenty-five years The author of a popular series of college textbooks on both writing

and reading, John enjoys the challenge of developing materials that teach skills in an especially clear and

lively way Before teaching, he earned advanced degrees in writing at Rutgers University and in reading at

Rowan University He also spent a year writing fiction that, he says, “is now at the back of a drawer waiting to

be discovered and acclaimed posthumously.” While in school, he supported himself by working as a truck

driver, a machinist, a battery assembler, a hospital attendant, and an apple packer John now lives with his

wife, Judith Nadell, near Philadelphia In addition to his wife and Philly sports teams, his passions include

reading and turning on nonreaders to the pleasure and power of books Through Townsend Press, his

educational publishing company, he has developed the nonprofit “Townsend Library”—a collection of more

than fifty new and classic stories that appeal to readers of any age

xxiii

PART 1: Basic Principles of Effective Writing

College offers many different challenges for students In order to be a successful student, it can be helpful

to know your individual strengths and weaknesses Take a few minutes to think about your strengths and

2 3

1 : An Introduction to Writing

2 : The Writing Process

3 : The First and Second Steps in Writing

4 : The Third Step in Writing

5 : The Fourth Step in Writing

6 : Four Bases for Revising Writing

1: An Introduction to Writing

Though some of us may stumble upon the job of our dreams, many of us have also had a job that seemed

more like a nightmare In this chapter you will read a student’s paragraph about his worst job Think

about the best or worst job you have ever had Later in the chapter you will be asked to write a

paragraph of your own on this topic.

This chapter will

• introduce you to the basic principles of effective writing

• ask you to write a simple paragraph

• present writing as both a skill and a process of discovery

• suggest keeping a journal

• suggest a sequence for using this book

This book grows out of experiences I had when learning how to write My early memories of writing in school are not pleasant In middle school, I remember getting back paper after paper on which the only comment was

“Handwriting very poor.” In high school, the night before a book report was due, I would work anxiously at a

card table in my bedroom I was nervous and sweaty because I felt out of my element, like a person who knows only how to open a can of soup being asked to cook a five-course meal The act of writing was hard enough,

and my feeling that I wasn’t any good at it made me hate the process all the more

Luckily, in college I had an instructor who changed my negative attitude about writing During my first

semester in composition, I realized that my instructor repeatedly asked two questions about any paper I wrote:

“What is your point?” and “What is your support for that point?” I learned that sound writing consists basically

of making a point and then providing evidence to support or develop that point As I understood, practiced, and mastered these and other principles, I began to write effective papers By the end of the semester, much of my

uneasiness and bad feelings about writing had disappeared I knew that competent writing is a skill that I or

anyone can learn with practice It is a nuts-and-bolts process consisting of a number of principles and

techniques that can be studied and mastered Further, I learned that while there is no alternative to the work

required for competent writing, there is satisfaction to be gained through such work I no longer feared or hated writing, for I knew I could work at it and be good at it

English Skills explains in a clear and direct way the four basic principles you must learn to write effectively:

1 Start with a clearly stated point

2 Provide logical, detailed support for your point

3 Organize and connect your supporting material

4 Revise and edit so that your sentences are effective and error-free

Part One of this book explains each of these steps in detail and provides many practice materials to help you

master them

4 5

Understanding Point and Support

An Important Difference between Writing and Talking

In everyday conversation, you make all kinds of points, or assertions You say, for example, “I hate my

job”; “Sue’s a really generous person”; or “That exam was unfair.” The points that you make concern such personal matters as well as, at times, larger issues: “A lot of doctors are arrogant”; “The death penalty

should exist for certain crimes”; “Tobacco and marijuana are equally dangerous.”

The people you are talking with do not always challenge you to give reasons for your statements They may know why you feel as you do, or they may already agree with you, or they simply may not want to put you

on the spot; and so they do not always ask “Why?” But the people who read what you write may not know

you, agree with you, or feel in any way obliged to you If you want to communicate effectively with

readers, you must provide solid evidence for any point you make An important difference, then, between

writing and talking is this: In writing, any idea that you advance must be supported with specific reasons or

details.

Think of your readers as reasonable people They will not take your views on faith, but they are willing to

consider what you say as long as you support it There fore, remember to support with specific evidence

any statement that you make

Point and Support in Two Cartoons

The following two Peanuts cartoons will show you quickly and clearly what you need to write effectively

You need to know how to (1) make a point and (2) support the point

Look for a moment at the following cartoon:

5 6

See if you can answer the following questions:

• What is Snoopy’s point in his paper?

Your answer: His point is that _

• What is his support for his point?

Your answer: _

Snoopy’s point, of course, is that dogs are superior to cats But he offers no support whatsoever to back up his point There are two jokes here First, he is a dog, so he is naturally going to believe that dogs are

superior The other joke is that his evidence (“They just are, and that’s all there is to it!”) is no more than

empty words His somewhat guilty look in the last panel suggests that he knows he has not proved his

point To write effectively, you must provide real support for your points and opinions.

Now look at this other cartoon about Snoopy as a writer

See if you can answer the following questions:

• What is Snoopy’s point about the hero in his writing?

Your answer: His point is that

• What is his support for his point?

6 7

Your answer: _

Snoopy’s point is that the hero’s life has been a disaster This time, Snoopy has an abundance of support for his point: the hapless hero never had any luck, money, friends, love, laughter, applause, fame, or answers

But the flaw in Snoopy’s composition is that he does not use enough supporting details to really prove his

point Instead, he plays the opposites game with his support (“He wanted to be loved He died unloved.”)

As readers, we wonder who the hero wanted to be loved by: his mother? a heroine? a beagle? To

sympathize with the hero and understand the nature of his disastrous life, we need more specifics In the

final panel of the cartoon, Snoopy has that guilty expression again Why might he have a hard time ending this paragraph?

Point and Support in a Paragraph

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Suppose you and a friend are talking about jobs you have had You might say about a particular job, “That was the worst one I ever had A lot of hard work and not much money.” For your friend, that might be

enough to make your point, and you would not really have to explain your statement But in writing, your

point would have to be backed up with specific reasons and details

Below is a paragraph, written by a student named Gene Hert, about his worst job A paragraph is a short

paper of 150 to 200 words It usually consists of an opening point called a topic sentence followed by a

series of sentences supporting that point

7 8

Notice what the details in this paragraph do They provide you, the reader, with a basis for understanding

why the writer makes the point that is made Through this specific evidence, the writer has explained and

successfully communicated the idea that this job was his worst one

The evidence that supports the point in a paragraph often consists of a series of reasons followed by

examples and details that support the reasons That is true of the paragraph above: three reasons are

provided, with examples and details that back up those reasons Supporting evidence in a paper can also

consist of anecdotes, personal experiences, facts, studies, statistics, and the opinions of experts

Activity 1

The paragraph on the apple plant, like almost any piece of effective writing, has two essential parts: (1)

a point is advanced, and (2) that point is then supported Taking a minute to outline the paragraph will

help you understand these basic parts clearly Add the words needed to complete the outline

Point: Working in an apple plant is the worst job I ever had

Activity 2

See if you can complete the statements below

1 An important difference between writing and talking is that in writing we absolutely must

_ any statement we make

8 9

2 A is made up of a point and a collection of specifics that support the

point

Activity 3

An excellent way to get a feel for the paragraph is to write one Your instructor may ask you to do that

now The only guidelines you need to follow are the ones described here There is an advantage to

writing a paragraph right away, at a point where you have had almost no instruction This first

paragraph will give a quick sense of your needs as a writer and will provide a baseline—a standard of

comparison that you and your instructor can use to measure your writing progress during the semester

Here, then, is your topic: Write a paragraph on the best or worst job you have ever had Provide three

reasons why your job was the best or the worst, and give plenty of details to develop each of your three reasons

Notice that the sample paragraph, “My Job in an Apple Plant,” has the same format your paragraph

should have You should do what this author has done:

• State a point in the first sentence

• Give three reasons to support the point

• Introduce each reason clearly with signal words (such as First of all, Second, and Finally).

• Provide details that develop each of the three reasons

Write your paragraph on a separate sheet of paper After completing the paragraph, hand it in to your

instructor

Benefits of Paragraph Writing

Paragraph writing offers at least three benefits First of all, mastering the structure of the paragraph will help make you a better writer For other courses, you’ll often do writing that will be variations on the paragraph

form—for example, exam answers, summaries, response papers, and brief reports In addition, paragraphs

serve as the basic building blocks of essays, the most common form of writing in college The basic structure

of the traditional paragraph, with its emphasis on a clear point and well-organized, logical support, will help

you write effective essays and almost every kind of paper that you will have to do

Second, the discipline of writing a paragraph will strengthen your skills as a reader and listener You’ll

become more critically aware of other writers’ and speakers’ ideas and the evidence they provide—or fail to

provide—to support those ideas

Most important, paragraph writing will make you a stronger thinker Writing a solidly reasoned paragraph

requires mental discipline and close attention to a set of logical rules Creating a paragraph in which there is

an overall topic sentence supported by well-reasoned, convincing evidence is more challenging than writing a free-form or expressive paper Such a paragraph obliges you to carefully sort out, think through, and organize

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and logical way Traditional paragraph writing, in short, will train your mind to think clearly, and that ability will prove to be of value in every phase of your life.

Writing as a Skill

A sure way to wreck your chances of learning how to write competently is to believe that writing is a “natural gift” rather than a learned skill People with such an attitude think that they are the only ones for whom

writing is unbearably difficult They feel that everyone else finds writing easy or at least tolerable Such

people typically say, “I’m not any good at writing” or “English was not one of my good subjects.” They

imply that they simply do not have a talent for writing, while others do The result of this attitude is that

people try to avoid writing, and when they do write, they don’t try their best Their attitude becomes a

self-fulfilling prophecy: Their writing fails chiefly because they have brainwashed themselves into thinking

that they don’t have the “natural talent” needed to write Unless their attitude changes, they probably will not learn how to write effectively

A realistic attitude about writing must build on the idea that writing is a skill It is a skill like driving, typing,

or cooking, and like any skill, it can be learned If you have the determination to learn, this book will give

you the extensive practice needed to develop your writing skills

Many people find it difficult to do the intense, active thinking that clear writing demands (Perhaps television has made us all so passive that the active thinking necessary in both writing and reading now seems harder

than ever.) It is frightening to sit down before a blank sheet of paper or a computer screen and know that an

hour later, nothing on it may be worth keeping It is frustrating to discover how much of a challenge it is to

transfer thoughts and feelings from one’s head into words It is upsetting to find that an apparently simple

writing subject often turns out to be complicated But writing is not an automatic process: we will not get

something for nothing—and we should not expect to For almost everyone, competent writing comes from

plain hard work—from determination, sweat, and head-on battle The good news is that the skill of writing

can be mastered, and if you are ready to work, you will learn what you need to know

Activity 4

To get a sense of just how you regard writing, read the following statements Put a check (✓) beside

those statements with which you agree This activity is not a test, so try to be as honest as possible

_1 A good writer should be able to sit down and write a paper straight through without

stopping

_2 Writing is a skill that anyone can learn with practice

_3 I’ll never be good at writing because I make too many mistakes in spelling, grammar, and

punctuation

_4 Because I dislike writing, I always start a paper at the last possible minute

_5 I’ve always done poorly in English, and I don’t expect that to change

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Now read the following comments about the five statements The comments will help you see if your

attitude is hurting or helping your efforts to become a better writer

Comments

• Statement 1: “A good writer should be able to sit down and write a paper straight through without

stopping.”

Statement 1 is not true Writing is, in fact, a process It is done not in one easy step but in a series

of steps, and seldom at one sitting If you cannot do a paper all at once, that simply means you are

like most of the other people on the planet It is harmful to carry around the false idea that writing

should be easy

• Statement 2: “Writing is a skill that anyone can learn with practice.”

Statement 2 is absolutely true Writing is a skill, like driving or word processing, that you can

master with hard work If you want to learn to write, you can It is as simple as that If you believe

this, you are ready to learn how to become a competent writer

Some people hold the false belief that writing is a natural gift, which some have and others do not

Because of this belief, they never make a truly honest effort to learn to write—and so they never

learn

• Statement 3: “I’ll never be good at writing because I make too many mistakes in spelling,

grammar, and punctuation.”

The first concern in good writing should be content—what you have to say Your ideas and

feelings are what matter most You should not worry about spelling, grammar, or punctuation

while working on content

Unfortunately, some people are so self-conscious about making mistakes that they do not focus on

what they want to say They need to realize that a paper is best done in stages, and that applying

the rules can and should wait until a later stage in the writing process Through review and

practice, you will eventually learn how to follow the rules with confidence

• Statement 4: “Because I dislike writing, I always start a paper at the last possible minute.”

This habit is all too common You feel you are going to do poorly, and then behave in a way that

ensures you will do poorly! Your attitude is so negative that you defeat yourself—not even

allowing enough time to really try

Again, what you need to realize is that writing is a process Because it is done in steps, you don’t

have to get it right all at once If you allow yourself enough time, you’ll find a way to make a paper come together

• Statement 5: “I’ve always done poorly in English, and I don’t expect that to change.” 12

How you may have performed in the past does not control how you can perform in the present

Even if you did poorly in English in high school, it is in your power to make English one of your

best subjects in college If youbelieve writing can be learned and then work hard at it, you will

become a better writer

In conclusion, your attitude is crucial If you believe you are a poor writer and always will be,

chances are you will not improve If you realize you can become a better writer, chances are you

will improve Depending on how you allow yourself to think, you can be your own best friend or

your own worst enemy

Writing as a Process of Discovery

In addition to believing that writing is a natural gift, many people believe, mistakenly, that writing should

flow in a simple, straight line from the writer’s head onto the page But writing is seldom an easy, one-step

journey in which a finished paper comes out in a first draft The truth is that writing is a process of discovery

which involves a series of steps, and those steps are very often a zigzag journey Look at the following

illustrations of the writing process:

Very often, writers do not discover just what they want to write about until they explore their thoughts in

writing For example, Gene Hert had been asked to write about a best or worst job Only after he did some

freewriting on good and bad jobs did he realize that the most interesting details centered on his job at an

apple plant He discovered his subject in the course of writing

Another student, Rhonda, talking afterward about a paper she wrote, explained that at first her topic was how she relaxed with her children But as she accumulated details, she realized after a page of writing that the

words relax and children simply did not go together Her details were really examples of how she enjoyed her children, not how she relaxed with them She sensed that the real focus of her writing should be what she did

by herself to relax, and then she thought suddenly that the best time of her week was Thursday after school

“A light clicked on in my head,” she explained “I knew I had my paper.” Then it was a matter of detailing

exactly what she did to relax on Thursday evenings Her paper, “How I Relax,” is on page 84

The point is that writing is often a process of continuing discovery As you write, you may suddenly switch

direction or double back You may be working on a topic sentence and realize suddenly that it could be your concluding thought Or you may be developing a supporting idea and then decide that it should be the main

point of your paper Chapter 2 will treat the writing process directly What is important to remember here is

that writers frequently do not know their exact destination as they begin to write Very often they discover the

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Keeping a Journal

Because writing is a skill, it makes sense that the more you practice writing, the better you will write One

excellent way to get practice in writing, even before you begin composing formal paragraphs, is to keep a

daily or almost daily journal Writing a journal will help you develop the habit of thinking on paper and will

show you how ideas can be discovered in the process of writing A journal can make writing a familiar part of your life and can serve as a continuing source of ideas for papers

At some point during the day—perhaps during a study period after your last class of the day, or right before

dinner, or right before going to bed—spend fifteen minutes or so writing in your journal Keep in mind that

you do not have to plan what to write about, or be in the mood to write, or worry about making mistakes as

you write; just write down whatever words come out You should write at least one page in each session

You may want to use a notebook that you can easily carry with you for on-thespot writing Or you may

decide to write on loose-leaf paper that can be transferred later to a journal folder on your desk Many

students choose to keep electronic journals on their computers or online through livejournal.com or a similar Web site No matter how you proceed, be sure to date all entries

Your instructor may ask you to make journal entries a specific number of times a week, for a specific number

of weeks He or she may have you turn in your journal every so often for review and feedback If you are

keeping the journal on your own, try to make entries three to five times a week every week of the semester

Your journal can serve as a sourcebook of ideas for possible papers More important, keeping a journal will

help you develop the habit of thinking on paper, and it can help you make writing a familiar part of your life

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Activity 5

Following is an excerpt from one student’s journal (Sentence-skills mistakes have been corrected to

improve readability.) As you read, look for a general point and supporting material that could be the basis for an interesting paper

• If the writer of this journal is looking for an idea for a paper, he can probably find several in this

single entry For example, he might write a narrative support ing the point that “In my sales job I

have to deal with some irritating customers.” See if you can find another idea in this entry that

might be the basis for an interesting paragraph Write your point in the space below

• Take fifteen minutes to prepare a journal entry right now on this day in your life On a separate

sheet of paper, just start writing about anything that you have said, heard, thought, or felt, and let

your thoughts take you where they may

Using This Text

Here is a suggested sequence for using this book if you are working on your own

1 After completing this introduction, read the remaining five chapters in Part One and work through as

many of the activities as you need to master the ideas in these chapters By the end of Part One, you

will have covered all the basic theory needed to write effective papers

2 Turn to Part Five and take the diagnostic test The test will help you determine what sentence skills you need to review Study those skills one or two at a time while you continue to work on other parts of the book These skills will help you write effective, error-free sentences

3 What you do next depends on course requirements, individual needs, or both You will want to practice

at least several different kinds of paragraph development in Part Two If your time is limited, be sure to include “Exemplification,” “Process,” “Comparison or Contrast,” and “Argument.”

4 After you develop skill in writing effective paragraphs, go on to practice writing one or more of the

several-paragraph essays described in Part Three

5 Turn to Part Four as needed for help with projects that involve research

6 If you are using the alternate version of this book—English Skills with Readings—read at least one of

the seventeen selections in Part Six every week, always being sure to work through the two sets of

questions that follow each reading

Remember that, for your convenience, the book includes the following:

• On the inside back cover, there is a checklist of the four basic steps in effective writing

• On page 621, there is a list of commonly used correction symbols

Get into the habit of referring to these guides on a regular basis; they’ll help you produce clearly thought-out, well-written papers

English Skills will help you learn, practice, and apply the thinking and writing skills you need to

communicate effectively But the starting point must be your determination to do the work needed to become

a strong writer The ability to express yourself clearly and logically can open doors of opportunity for you,

both in school and in your career If you decide—and only you can decide—that you want such language

power, this book will help you reach that goal

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2: The Writing Process

Getting started is often the hardest part of writing You may have looked and felt like the student pictured above many times when working on a writing assignment What could this student do to help get ideas

flowing? As you will learn in this chapter, using various prewriting techniques can help make the writing process a lot easier.

This chapter will explain and illustrate

• the sequence of steps in writing an effective paragraph

• prewriting

• revising

• editing

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Chapter 1 introduced you to the paragraph form and some basics of writing This chapter will explain and

illustrate the sequence of steps in writing an effective paragraph In particular, the chapter will focus on

prewriting and revising— strategies that can help with every paragraph that you write

For many people, writing is a process that involves the following steps:

1 Discovering a point—often through prewriting.

2 Developing solid support for the point—often through more prewriting.

3 Organizing the supporting material and writing it out in a first draft.

4 Revising and then editing carefully to ensure an effective, error-free paper.

Learning this sequence will help give you confidence when the time comes to write You’ll know that you can

use prewriting as a way to think on paper (or at the keyboard) and to discover gradually just what ideas you

want to develop You’ll understand that there are four clear-cut goals to aim for in your writing—unity,

support, organization, and error-free sentences You’ll realize that you can use revising to rework a paragraph

until it is strong and effective And you’ll be able to edit a paragraph so that your sentences are clear and

can I say?” or “Where do I go next?”

The following pages describe five techniques that will help you think about and develop a topic and get

words on paper: (1) freewriting, (2) questioning, (3) making a list, (4) clustering, and (5) preparing a scratch

outline These prewriting techniques help you think about and create material, and they are a central part of

the writing process

Technique 1: Freewriting

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When you do not know what to write about a subject or when you are blocked in writing, freewriting

sometimes helps In freewriting, you write on your topic for ten minutes You do not worry about spelling

or punctuating correctly, about erasing mistakes, about organizing material, or about finding exact words

You just write without stopping If you get stuck for words, you write “I am looking for something to say”

or repeat words until something comes There is no need to feel inhibited, since mistakes do not count and

you do not have to hand in your paper

Freewriting will limber up your writing muscles and make you familiar with the act of writing It is a way

to break through mental blocks about writing Since you do not have to worry about mistakes, you can

focus on discovering what you want to say about a subject Your initial ideas and impressions will often

become clearer after you have gotten them down on paper, and they may lead to other impressions and

ideas Through continued practice in freewriting, you will develop the habit of thinking as you write And

you will learn a technique that is a helpful way to get started on almost any paragraph

Freewriting: A Student Model

Gene Hert’s paragraph “My Job in an Apple Plant” on page 8 was written in response to an assignment to

write a paragraph on the best or worst job he ever had Gene began by doing some general freewriting and

thinking about his jobs Here is his freewriting:

At this point, Gene read over his notes, and as he later commented, “I realized that I had several potential

topics I said to myself, ‘What point can I make that I can cover in a paragraph? What do I have the most

information about?’ I decided to narrow my topic down to my awful job at the apple plant I figured I

would have lots of interesting details for that topic.” Gene then did a more focused freewriting to

accumulate details for a paragraph on his bad job:

Notice that there are problems with spelling, grammar, and punctuation in Gene’s freewriting Gene was

not worried about such matters, nor should he have been At this stage, he just wanted to do some thinking

on paper and get some material down on the page He knew that this was a good first step, a good way of

getting started, and that he would then be able to go on and shape that material

You should take the same approach when freewriting: explore your topic without worrying at all about

being “correct.” Figuring out what you want to say and getting raw material down on the page should have all of your attention at this early stage of the writing process

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Activity 1

To get a sense of the freewriting process, take a sheet of paper and freewrite about different jobs you

have had and what you liked or did not like about them See how much material you can accumulate in

ten minutes And remember not to worry about “mistakes”; you’re just thinking on paper

Technique 2: Questioning

In questioning, you generate ideas and details by asking as many questions as you can think of about your

subject Such questions include Why? When? Where? Who? How? In what ways?

Here are questions that Gene Hert asked while further developing his paragraph:

Questioning: A Student Model

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Asking questions can be an effective way of getting yourself to think about a topic from different angles

The questions can help you generate details about a topic and get ideas on how to organize those details

Notice how asking questions gives Gene a better sense of the different reasons why he hated the job

Activity 2

To get a feel for the questioning process, use a sheet of paper to ask yourself a series of questions about your best and worst jobs See how many details you can accumulate in ten minutes And remember

again not to be concerned about “mistakes,” because you are just thinking on paper

Technique 3: Making a List

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In making a list, also known as brainstorming, you create a list of ideas and details that relate to your

subject Pile these items up, one after another, without trying to sort out major details from minor ones, or

trying to put the details in any special order, or even trying to spell words correctly Your goal is to

accumulate raw material by making up a list of everything about your subject that occurs to you

After freewriting and questioning, Gene made up the following list of details

Making a List: A Student Model

One detail led to another as Gene expanded his list Slowly but surely, more details emerged, some of

which he could use in developing his paragraph By the time he had finished his list, he was ready to plan

an outline of his paragraph and then to write his first draft

Activity 3

To get a sense of making a list, use a sheet of paper to list a series of details about one of the best or

worst jobs you ever had Don’t worry about deciding whether the details are major or minor; instead,

just get down as many details as you can think of in five or ten minutes

Technique 4: Clustering

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Clustering, also known as diagramming or mapping, is another strategy that can be used to generate

material for a paragraph This method is helpful for people who like to think in a visual way In clustering, you use lines, boxes, arrows, and circles to show relationships among the ideas and details that occur to you.Begin by stating your subject in a few words in the center of a blank sheet of paper Then, as ideas and

details occur to you, put them in boxes or circles around the subject and draw lines to connect them to each other and to the subject Put minor ideas or details in smaller boxes or circles, and use connecting lines to

show how they relate as well

Keep in mind that there is no right or wrong way of clustering It is a way to think on paper about how

various ideas and details relate to one another Below is an example of what Gene might have done to

develop his ideas:

Clustering: A Student Model

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In addition to helping generate material, clustering often suggests ways to organize ideas and details

Activity 4

Use clustering or diagramming to organize the details about a best or worst job that you created for

the previous activity ( page 23)

Technique 5: Preparing a Scratch Outline

A scratch outline can be the single most helpful technique for writing a good paragraph A scratch outline

often follows freewriting, questioning, making a list, or clustering, but it may also gradually emerge in the midst of these strategies In fact, trying to make a scratch outline is a good way to see if you need to do

more prewriting If you cannot come up with a solid outline, then you know you need to do more

prewriting to clarify your main point and its several kinds of support

In a scratch outline, you think carefully about the point you are making, the supporting items for that point, and the order in which you will arrange those items The scratch outline is a plan or blueprint to help you

achieve a unified, supported, and well-organized paragraph

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Scratch Outline: A Student Model

In Gene’s case, as he was working on his list of details, he suddenly realized what the plan of his

paragraph could be He could organize many of his details into one of three supporting groups: (1) the job itself, (2) the pay, and (3) the working conditions He then went back to the list, crossed out items that he now saw did not fit, and numbered the items according to the group where they fit Here is what Gene did with his list:

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Under the list, Gene was now able to prepare his scratch outline: 25

After all his prewriting, Gene was pleased He knew that he had a promising paragraph—one with a clear point and solid support He saw that he could organize the material into a paragraph with a topic

sentence, supporting points, and vivid details He was now ready to write the first draft of his paragraph, using his outline as a guide

TIP

hances are that if you do enough prewriting and thinking on paper, you will eventually discover the

point and support of your paragraph

Activity 5

Create a scratch outline that could serve as a guide if you were to write a paragraph on your best or

worst job experience

Writing a First Draft

When you write a first draft, be prepared to put in additional thoughts and details that did not emerge during

prewriting And don’t worry if you hit a snag Just leave a blank space or add a comment such as “Do later”

and press on to finish the paper Also, don’t worry yet about grammar, punctuation, or spelling You don’t

want to take time correcting words or sentences that you may decide to remove later Instead, make it your

goal to state your main idea clearly and develop the content of your paragraph with plenty of specific details

Writing a First Draft: A Student Model

Here is Gene’s first draft, done in longhand: